This invention relates generally to laundry systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transporting laundry that increases the efficiency and lowers the cost of laundering textiles, as well as provides identification, containment, and treatment of potentially harmful material within the soiled laundry.
Linens are typically collected from commercial users during normal working hours from multiple workstations, such as from hospitals, nursing facilities, or industrial facilities. The soiled linens are usually placed into linen carts that remain in predetermined locations throughout the facility. The linen carts are retrieved upon arrival of the laundry truck from a laundry processing facility and weighted prior to loading onto the truck. This process is very inefficient and may lead to delays for both the cleaning staff and the launderers. Another problem frequently experienced in laundry processing is that linens may not be properly stored and thus may become degraded by environmental factors such as ultraviolet light, moisture, temperature, insects, and textile mold and mildew.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for transporting and laundering textiles. Although assumedly effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices and methods are either inefficient, not cost effective, or fail to optimize the sanitation and freshness characteristics of the textiles being transported and laundered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,310,969, titled “Controlled-Environment Cargo Container,” issued to Robert Dale on Dec. 17, 2007, teaches an apparatus for controlling the environment of cargo through lateral ventilation. However, the prior art does not address, among other things, running inlet and outlet ducts adjacently in a thermal transfer configuration, which tends to reduce or eliminate condensation of moisture from the warmer air volume. Nor does the prior art teach the use and integration of a pathogen control system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and method for transporting and laundering textiles that is efficient and cost-effective. Further, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and method for transporting and laundering textiles that provides a transportation apparatus that avoids degradation of stored linens from environmental factors. In addition, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and method for transporting and laundering textiles that provides security and insect control. Further, it would be a desirable addition to the art to provide thermal transfer configuration. And further still, it would be a desirable to provide an effective pathogen control system to the laundry transportation system.